Health tip: Yes, You Should Floss
Remember that Associated Press story claiming Uncle Sam couldn’t prove there were any benefits to flossing? As Michael Fumento writes at Real Clear Health, the fact that there aren’t many academic studies on the benefits of flossing shouldn’t raise alarm: “Why? Unfortunately, part of it is because very few people have researched what is so very obvious: rotting food pressed against a mucous membrane or tooth enamel has got to be bad . . . Finally, a flossing study isn’t as simple as might seem. Rats and mice stubbornly refuse to floss, while the gold standard of a clinical trial is a double-blinded placebo — meaning neither the subjects nor the researchers know who is using the real deal and who is using a fake substitute. That’s fine for medications and other things, but what is a placebo for dental floss?”
Common sense: Law-Abiders Aren’t the Problem
Criminals don’t follow the law. This sounds obvious, but when it comes to the gun-control crowd, it isn’t. At National Review, David French points to a new study showing the vast majority of gun crime is committed with unlawfully obtained guns. He notes that some have acknowledged that this buttresses the “argument” made by gun-rights supporters that since criminals don’t follow the law, more onerous gun laws won’t deter much crime: “It’s not just an ‘argument.’ It’s the truth. Criminals in general aren’t deterred by the existence of criminal law, and it’s simply magical thinking to believe that any given new regulation will have any material impact on criminal behavior.”
From the right: How Trump Can Still Win
If Trump and the media would talk about the issues, writes Jeffrey Anderson at the Weekly Standard, it could erase Hillary Clinton’s lead. That’s because, Anderson says, on the economy, immigration, health care and law and order, Trump is the one addressing Americans’ legitimate anxiety. “Why, then, is Clinton developing such a lead in the polls? Because she, Trump, and the media all seem to agree upon one thing — that the issues are to be avoided. Clinton and the media avoid the issues because they know she’s hurt by them. Trump avoids the issues for reasons that are harder to ascertain — perhaps because he doesn’t fully realize how much they benefit him or perhaps just because he finds it easier and more enjoyable to talk about something else. But if he were to start talking policy, his electoral fortunes might turn around.”
From the left: Democrats’ Syrian Civil War
With all the talk of Democrats trying to seize the mantle of national security from the Republican Party, writes Kim Ghattas at Foreign Policy, there’s one subject they don’t talk much about: Syria. That’s because, Ghattas writes, the Democratic Party is at war with itself over what to do. “Even if Clinton’s instincts may push her toward greater intervention in Syria, she could face substantial opposition from her own party.” The growing anti-Israel Democratic base would push back on anything that seems to hurt the terror group Hezbollah: “And rather inconveniently, [Syrian President Bashar al] Assad belongs to the so-called axis of resistance against Israel that includes Hezbollah — and for which the American left has a tendency to voice support with little questioning.”
A general warns: Beating ISIS Isn’t the End
In The Washington Post, David Petraeus says Mosul will be liberated by Arab and Kurdish forces in the next few months. That’s when the liberating forces will have to “ensure post-conflict security, reconstruction and, above all, governance that is representative of and responsive to the people.” And Iraqis will have to do this without the authority and resources that the United States had in trying to rebuild Iraq post-Saddam: “Leaders of the various Iraqi elements will likely have their own militias, and there will be endless rounds of brinkmanship on the road to post-Islamic State boundaries, governing structures and distribution of power and resources.”